Alice’s Day events this Saturday 9 July

The Story Museum Courtyard
10.30am-3pm Theatre: Wonderland Adventures and Zany Tales
 
This event is in the courtyard of the future Story Museum.  The former GPO building was donated by a fairy godmother and in 2014 it will become a magical new museum where stories of all kinds will be celebrated: spoken and sung, danced and acted, written, drawn, painted and carved.
 
The Natural History Museum Lawn
11.00am -2pm Theatre: Queen of Hearts Unbirthday Party
 
Oxford Botanic Garden
1.00-4pm Family activities and Jabberwocky Performance
 
Oxford Castle
11.00-2am Promenade theatre, live white rabbits, art, craft
and late night frolics!
 
For more about what’s on in all the venues, please see here

Application for listing BK barn and stables

A planning application for development on the site of the barn and stable block associated with Bury Knowle House has been delayed pending the outcome of a report by a listing inspector from English Heritage.

How to request that a building is listed

A member of the public (as in this case), or a Council Officer, fills in the form or writes to the regional office of English Heritage requesting that a building is considered for listing.  Then the listing inspector visits and inspects and does some research on the building to provide an evidence base with reference to the criteria for listing, which include the two basic criteria of Special Historic and Architectural Interest, as well as a host of other criteria depending on the type of building.  The City Council is sent a copy of this evidence base to comment on if it wishes to.  A separate letter of recommendation is written by the inspector stating whether in their opinion the building merits listing or not.

The Secretary of State can then act on this – the decision is usually made within a couple of months.

Parliamentary reception

Ruth was invited to the All Party Parliamentary Group reception at the House of Commons on Monday evening which was sponsored by the Local Government Information Unit, a prestigious non-party-aligned think tank in the local government sector. The Minister for Housing, Grant Shapps, addressed the meeting and held a Q&A session with MPs, council leaders and councillors from across the country. Andrew Stunell the local government minister also attended the reception.

The event was a great opportunity to network with councillors from other authorities and meet lawyers, journalists and specialists from local government organisations

Ruth and Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems Simon Hughes enjoy the introduction of Grant Shapps to the meeting as "the dynamite behind housing!"

Free bank shares scheme up for debate

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says it’s time the public benefited from the bailout of the banks.

The Lib Dem Leader is backing a scheme that will give shares in the nationally owned RBS and Lloyds banks to every adult in the UK.

Mr Clegg has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ask him to look at the shares plan which has been backed by several other senior politicians.
The blueprint to hand over shares to over 45million adults in the UK has been drawn up by a top city firm and was first launched by Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams in March.

The plans will ensure that the Treasury will get its money back from the banking bailout, but any profits will go directly to the 45million shareholders.

Mr Clegg added:

“The British people rightly feel let down by the past behaviour of the banks. With this plan they would own a piece of the banks, have a voice in how they were run and benefit from their future success.”

Update: property at 29 Old High Street

Today’s case relating to repairs and maintenance of this property was adjourned until 9th September as the Judge didn’t think he had sufficient time to deal with it today. 
 
The Council will incur officer costs and the costs of the barrister and will be writing to the court expressing dissatisfaction about the resulting waste of taxpayers’ money

Oxford Family Olympic event in South Park

Oxford OlymParks will be packed full of Olympic and Paralympic sports for you to try for free. In addition you can join in free masterclasses of dance disciplines from around the world

If you’re not keen on sport, there will be other fun activities for families to enjoy. It’s happening in South Park on Sunday 24 July 2011. Click here for details of these and other Olympic inspired activities

Summer of a Lifetime – for 16 year olds

The County Council is running a National Citizen Service pilot programme in Oxfordshire over the summer for 16-year-olds post-GCSE. The programme is called Summer of a Lifetime and has agreed to recruit 60 young people for this exciting and challenging opportunity. The free 6 week programme, starting on 21 July, includes:

a week away in Wales, the New Forest or Dorset doing  things like archery, rock climbing, canoeing and team building
a Summer Festival week at Hill End outdoor education centre exploring the theme of 21st Century Community, creating a street party and inviting members of their own communities to come along
a week planning their social action projects in teams of 15 in the four areas: Oxford, Witney, Banbury and Abingdon
undertaking their 30 hour community action projects in the final three weeks
a final celebration and graduation event on 2 September.

Applicants must be 16 by 31 August 2011. Click here for details.

For more information, contact Shelley Maxfield, National Citizen Service Co-ordinator by email (shelley.maxfield@oxfordshire.gov.uk), telephone (01865 256 644) or mobile phone (07775 407 557).

Area Forum information

Please click on our meetings/surgeries tab on the top menu bar for information about Area Forums, the first of which will take place next Tuesday 5 July at New Marston Primary School between 6.00 and 8.00 pm. The main topic for discussion will be the preferred options document from the City Council on Sites and Housing Development in the City which you can find here.

Focus meetings in Headington Ward

We are planning to hold meetings on topics relating to your local area called Headington Focus meetings. This will give people a chance to book surgery slots, raise local issues in open session, find out what is happening across the area from community groups and local councillors, and discuss topics that will lead to the formation of a local plan for each area of the ward

The first meeting will be held on Monday 19 July at Headington Baptist Church Hall at 6.00 pm. For more details, please click on the Meetings/surgeries tab in the top menu bar